This invention relates to a method and apparatus for carrying out the one-sided coating of continuous metal strip. The present invention is especially suited for galvanizing steel strip. The steel strip is passed through an inert gas atmosphere, above a liquid coating medium contained in a vessel. The steel strip is directed about a horizontally rotating guide roller. Located below the guide roller and having its rotating axis parallel to the axis of the guide roller is arranged a material feed roller, which dips, with at least half of its circumference, into the coating medium contained in the vessel. The coating medium is supplied to the steel strip in an amount required for the application of the required coating thickness to the surface of the metal strip. The coating material is provided to the sheet metal in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the metal strip. Downstream of the guide roller, in the direction of transport of the metal strip and downstream of the gap between the surface of the metal strip and the surface of the feed roller, there is arranged an orifice knife, capable of controlling the desired coating layer thickness. Optionally, a mechanism for introducing seed crystals into the coating layer can also be provided which operates by directing a stream of gas to the metal strip. All of the above is described according to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 255,884, filed Apr. 20, 1981, now abandoned, priority being based on German patent application Pat. No. 30 09 590.0-45. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 255,844 accomplishes the specific objective of providing a method and apparatus for the manufacture of a flawless, uniform, one-sided coating of a continuous metal strip. This is accomplished with little relative additional expenditure for construction; yet, nevertheless, the process is able to adjust the coating thickness accurately. In carrying out the process of the referred to pending U.S. patent application, it was discovered that when the coated metal strip left the inert gas atmosphere at too high a temperature, the uncoated back surface of the metal strip would oxidize or tarnish which is disadvantageous for the subsequent processing of the metal strip. The referred to U.S. patent application has already proposed that the inert gas be also used for cooling the metal strip in order to lower the temperature of the coated steel strip into a region in which tarnishing of the back surface no longer takes place prior to introduction of the strip into the atmosphere. However, that solution requires a relatively long cooling zone to be operated under an inert gas atmosphere which obviously corresponds to a relative high capital expenditure.